Look Who it Was Random video

Susan Blackmore - Genes, Memes & Other Dangerous Ideas

2,643 views · Published 28 November 2018 · 21:09 · Indexed 24 October 2026

Channel: Science, Technology & the Future · 2018 · Science & Technology

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A meme is commonly thought of as an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.  Susan Blackmore sees the meme in terms of being a universal replicator, of which the gene is but an example, rather than being like the gene itself. Universal replicators possess three key characteristics: high fidelity replication, high levels of fecundity (and so lots of copies) and longevity.

Bio: Professor Susan Blackmore is a psychologist, lecturer and writer researching consciousness, memes, and anomalous experiences, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. She is a TED lecturer, blogs for the Guardian, and often appears on radio and television. The Meme Machine (1999) has been translated into 16 other languages; more recent books include Conversations on Consciousness (2005), Zen and the Art of Consciousness (2011), Seeing Myself: The new science of out-of-body experiences (2017) and a textbook Consciousness: An Introduction (3rd Ed 2018).

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